Institutional Investors Continue 10-Quarter Sell-Off of Properties as Investor Purchases Fall 22% Year Over Year
PHOENIX, AZ, UNITED STATES, October 16, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Real estate investor purchases declined on an annual basis for the third consecutive quarter, falling by 22% from the prior year, according to the Q2 2026 Investor Pulse Report from BatchData (https://batchdata.io). Investors purchased just over 284,000 homes in the quarter, up from an upwardly adjusted total of 277,000 in the previous quarter, but declining by 82,000 from 366,000 in the second quarter of 2025. At these lower levels, investor purchases accounted for almost 27% of all home sales in the quarter – dropping below 30% for the first time in five quarters.
The Investor Pulse Report is a quarterly publication providing strategic market intelligence on investor activity in U.S. single-family residential housing. The report analyzes ownership patterns, transaction trends, pricing strategies, and geographic distribution to deliver actionable insights for real estate professionals, policymakers, and market participants. The report is prepared using data provided by BatchData and other sources by business intelligence firm CJ Patrick Company (https://www.cjpatrick.com).
“While investor home purchases increased during the second quarter, they didn’t keep pace with the much larger increase in overall home sales during April, May, and June,” said BatchData president Ivo Draginov. “Existing home sales increased by over 323,000 transactions during Q2, but the overwhelming majority of these purchases were made by traditional homebuyers. Investor purchases only rose by about 6,700 transactions during the quarter.”
Small Investors Continue to Dominate Market, While Large Investors Pare Holdings
The largest investors – those owning 1,000 or more properties – account for just 2% of all investor-owned homes and are paring back their ownership positions. Q2 2026 was the tenth consecutive quarter where the largest investors sold more properties than they purchased. Collectively, these large investors purchased 5,400 homes in the second quarter of 2026, while selling almost 7,200. The recently passed 21st Century Road to Housing legislation didn’t become law until July 11 and had no apparent impact on second quarter investor home sales or purchases.
The real estate investment market continues to be dominated by small, mom-and-pop investors who own between one and five properties – they hold 92% of the single-family homes owned by investors, and those holding six to 10 properties own just under 4%.
Investors Own 18% of Residential Homes in the United States
There are over 86 million properties classified as single-family homes or townhouses across the United States. Of these, approximately 16 million – or 18% – are investment properties owned by individuals and corporate entities. These are predominantly rental and short-term rental properties which are not owner-occupied.
States with Strong Tourism Have the Highest Percentage of Investor-Owned Homes
Once again, Maine, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Hawaii have the highest percentage of investor-owned single-family homes. Maine has the highest percentage of investment properties at 30.92%, followed by Wyoming at 30.58%, Alaska at 26.66%, Montana at 26.61%, and Hawaii at 25.58%. All of these states depend heavily on tourism, so it’s likely that many of the investor-owned homes are vacation homes and short-term rental properties. North Carolina, Nevada, and Arizona also have a relatively high percentage of investor-owned homes; all three of these states have investor ownership rates over 24%.
Investors own over five million single-family homes in Texas, California, Florida, North Carolina, and Georgia – meaning that roughly thirty percent of the nation’s total inventory of investor-owned properties are in these five states. Texas investors hold almost 1.4 million homes; California investors own just under 1.2 million; there are over 1.1 million investor properties in Florida; nearly 791,000 in North Carolina; and just under 631,000 in Georgia.
Investors own at least 18% of the single-family homes in 92 of the 180 largest metros in the United States, with a strong concentration in the South and Southeast, where four of the top 10 markets and 13 of the top 24 with the highest percentage of investor-owned homes are located. Investor activity tends to be concentrated in geographic regions where home prices are lower than national averages, and on older homes in need of repair and remodeling rather than the move-in ready homes traditional homebuyers prefer.
Large investors – those owning more than 100 homes – are even more highly concentrated in the South and Southeast, where 11 of the top 14 metros with the highest institutional ownership are located. Atlanta and Jacksonville have the highest rate of institutional investor ownership of single-family homes at 4% each. Almost 3% of the homes in Charlotte are owned by large investors. No other metro area has more than about a 2% level of ownership.
About BatchData
Founded in 2018, BatchData is a leading provider of property data and predictive intelligence for the real estate ecosystem. Built by industry experts, BatchData has established one of the deepest and most accurate data lakes in the property technology sector, delivering instant access to over 155 million U.S. property records. The platform empowers businesses – ranging from proptech startups to enterprise institutions – with robust APIs, bulk data solutions, and AI-powered insights. By transforming complex public records into actionable intelligence, BatchData fuels decision-making for investors, lenders, and home service providers nationwide. For more information, visit www.BatchData.io (https://batchdata.io).
About CJ Patrick Company
Founded in 2019, CJ Patrick Company is a Market Intelligence and Business Advisory firm working with companies in the real estate and mortgage industries. Visit www.cjpatrick.com for more information.
About the Investor Pulse™ Report
The Investor Pulse Report is a quarterly publication providing strategic market intelligence on investor activity in U.S. single-family residential housing. The report analyzes ownership patterns, transaction trends, pricing strategies, and geographic distribution to deliver actionable insights for real estate professionals, policymakers, and market participants. The report is prepared using data provided by BatchData and other public record data sources by business intelligence firm CJ Patrick Company. More detailed methodology available upon request.
Rick Sharga
CJ Patrick Company
+1 949-322-4583
rick@cjpatrick.com
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability
for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this
article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
Media gallery
